Aristotle defines the state as “An Union of families and villages having for its end a perfect and self sufficient life, by which we mean a happy and honorable life”.
- According to Bluntschli,” The state is Politically Organized people.
- According to Wilson, “The state is a people organized for law within a definite territory”.
- According to Laski,” The state is a territorial society divided into government and subject, etc, claiming within its allotted physical area, a supremacy over all other institutions.
The above definitions show that there are four essential elements of state.
- Population
- Territory
- Government
- Sovereignty.
a. Population: People are the most important essential of the state. If there are no people there will be nobody to rule and nobody to be ruled. A vacant island or desert can’t constitute a state. Hence, population is essential for state and without population there can be no state.
For Aristotle, number should be neither too large nor too small. It should be large enough to be self-sufficient and small enough to be well governed. The actual population is less than the optimum; the natural resources can’t be fully utilized. If it is more, ***’ will be the result.
b. Territory: Territory is a definite area of earth surface where people reside permanently. We can’t think of a state without territory. The area within these boundaries constitutes the “Territorial Jurisdiction “of a state. There is no fixed limit to the size of territory, it may be generally **** down that there should be proper balance between population and territory.
c. Government: For the peaceful existence gout is very much essential for a state. Government is the machinery, which regulates controls and directs human behavior in society. It is an agency of the state through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed and ****.
The entire population of a political community makes a state. The gout is composed of few persons duly elected or selected. There are branches of government. They are legislature, executive and judiciary. The form of government differs from state to state.
d. Sovereignty: It means supreme power of the state. The term sovereignty derived from ** word supreranus, which means supreme. There are two aspects of sovereignty I, e Internal and external sovereignty. Internal means supreme legal authority and group within its territory. External means freedom of state from any kind of outside control. It means – Independence of state. Sovereignty is the most important element of the State.
